A selection of tea and coffee news from Vietnam and overseas

A selection of news stories about tea and coffee from around the world. Click on the links for the full story.

August 2015

This is quite interesting but one of those stories (which I always believe are made up) about tea that is only harvested at midnight on a full moon with a pair of golden scissors. Do people fall for this or is it really true?

Have you tried these exotic teas?

There is a world beyond cutting chai and tea bags; some intricate tea flavours and stories will last you a lifetime. Cultivating and harvesting processes differ and in some cases, the tea leaves are pampered better than royalty. This may affect how much you shell out for your evening cuppa. People know that there is a price to be paid for the Darjeeling First Flush Tea, and it isn’t comparable with the black tea in your kitchen. So how much are tea lovers willing to spend on their favourite brew? [Read More]

The role of the tea trade in some notable historic events is always fascinating. Has the trade of any other product been at the heart of so many incidents.

The long and violent history behind the cuppa

HOW very dare they. A couple of authors from the United States are taking on that most quintessentially British of beverages in a new book called How To Make Tea: The Science Behind The Leaf. [Read More]

An innovative way of using biomass in tea production to improve sustainability.

To Save Forests, Kenyan Factory Brews New Way to Dry Tea

THIKA, KENYA— The first thing that strikes you as you enter the Makomboki Tea Factory is the air. It's clear, absent of the dark smoke that billows from the boilers of Kenya's other tea factories. Of the 66 tea factories under the management of the Kenya Tea Development Authority, Makomboki is the only one that doesn't use firewood in the processing of its tea.. [Read More]

Coffee is known for its innovation and what better use for a de-commisioned red telephone box than as a coffee shop.

Tiny coffee shop opens in red phone box

One of the country's smallest coffee shops has opened inside a traditional British red phone box - with the owner hoping to cause a stir. [Read More]

Seems that the sales of tea are on a downward trend in the UK. Can there be good news buried here that poor quality tea bags are being shunned in favour of loose leaf teas?

UK tea sales fall by more than 6% over past five years

Increasing popularity of coffee takes its toll, with sales of ordinary teabags falling from £491m in 2012 to £425m in 2014, according to latest figures. [Read More]

Those self effacing down under people are rightly proud of their coffee culture.

Australian coffee is the best in the world

It's not often us colonials can be accused of being snobby about anything. I mean – most Australians' favourite historical figure is a bank robber, our favourite sport is a rule-free bastardisation of lots of other people's sports, and our favourite cuisine is made by Four'N Twenty. [Read More]

Another green tea, health and lifestyle story. It does make me wonder when so much of the growth of tea is ready made bottled drinks whether the health benefits are negated by all the added sugar and other ingredients.

Check your green tea

Against a realisation that not all leaves are good for you, Oishi have launched Kabusecha, a brew that is cultivated in a very special way so as to maximise its taste and health benefits [Read More]

Assuming that antioxidants are a good thing, keep drinking that tea and coffee -and add a dash of milk to keep your teeth white (or so say those researchers).

Coffee: The World’s Biggest Source of Antioxidants

Most antioxidants in the Western diet come from beverages such as coffee and tea. Only 21 percent of dietary antioxidants come from food. [Read More]

Milk in tea significantly prevents teeth staining, researcher says

Those who prefer a bit of milk in their tea have a reason to smile: according to research from the University of Alberta, a splash of dairy in a cup of tea can help keep teeth pearly white. [Read More]

The annual concerns about the size and quality of the coffee crop in Brazil. Coffee futures anyone?

Coffee rallies on fears over Brazilian crop

Worries about the size of the Brazilian beans as well as dryness in Central America and Colombia prompted the covering of bearish bets, leading to a 2.3 per cent rally in arabica coffee. [Read More]